119-s2907

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2907 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 2907

 To prohibit health care professionals, hospitals, or clinics from 
participating in the chemical or surgical mutilation of a child and to 
 provide a private right of action for children and the parents of 
 children whose healthy body parts have been damaged by medical 
 professionals practicing chemical and surgical mutilation.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 September 18 (legislative day, September 16), 2025

Mrs. Blackburn (for herself, Mr. Schmitt, Mr. Sheehy, and Mr. Scott of 
 Florida) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
 referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To prohibit health care professionals, hospitals, or clinics from 
participating in the chemical or surgical mutilation of a child and to 
 provide a private right of action for children and the parents of 
 children whose healthy body parts have been damaged by medical 
 professionals practicing chemical and surgical mutilation.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Chloe Cole Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act:

    (1) Chemical or surgical mutilation.--
        (A) In general.--The term ``chemical or surgical 
 mutilation'' means engaging in any one or more of the 
 following for the purpose of intentionally halting the 
 natural development of the individual's body so that it 
 no longer corresponds to the individual's sex or 
 intentionally changing the individual's body, including 
 the individual's external appearance or biological 
 functions, to no longer correspond to the individual's 
 sex:
            (i) The use of puberty blockers, including 
 gonadotropin releasing hormone agonists and 
 other interventions, to delay the onset or 
 progression of normally timed puberty in an 
 individual.
            (ii) The use of sex hormones, such as 
 androgen blockers, estrogen, progesterone, or 
 testosterone.
            (iii) Surgical procedures that attempt to 
 transform an individual's physical appearance 
 or that attempt to alter or remove an 
 individual's sexual organs.
        (B) Exclusions.--Such term does not include any of 
 the following:
            (i) Appropriate and medically necessary 
 procedures to treat a verifiable disorder of 
 sexual development, including an individual 
 born with 46 XX chromosomes with virilization, 
 with 46 XY chromosomes with undervirilization, 
 or having both ovarian and testicular tissue.
            (ii) The treatment of any infection, 
 injury, disease, or disorder that has been 
 caused or exacerbated by the performance of an 
 intervention described in subparagraph
        (A) without regard to whether the intervention was 
 performed in accordance with State or Federal 
 law or whether the intervention is covered by 
 the private right of action under 

section 4.
            (iii) Any intervention undertaken because 
 the individual suffers from any diagnosed and 
 verifiable condition of the body's organ 
 systems, including the following:
            (I) Traumatic bodily injuries (such 
 as fractures, organ rupture, or 
 penetrating trauma).
            (II) Congenital structural 
 anomalies of major organs or systems, 
 including the cardiovascular, 
 respiratory, renal, hepatic, 
 neurological, or musculoskeletal 
 systems.
            (III) Acute illnesses with a high 
 probability of rapid mortality.
            (iv) Detransition treatment.

    (2) Child.--The term ``child'' means an individual under 18 
 years of age.

    (3) Detransition treatment.--The term ``detransition 
 treatment'' means any treatment, including a mental health 
 treatment, medical intervention, or surgery, that does either 
 or both of the following:
        (A) Stops or reverses the effects of a prior 
 chemical or surgical mutilation.
        (B) Helps an individual cope with the effects of a 
 prior chemical or surgical mutilation.

    (4) Health care professional.--The term ``health care 
 professional'' means a person, including a physician, who is 
 licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized by the laws of a 
 State to administer health care in the ordinary course of the 
 practice of his or her profession or performing such acts which 
 require such licensure.

    (5) Mental health professional.--The term ``mental health 
 professional'' means a person who is licensed to diagnose and 
 treat mental health conditions in a State.

    (6) Participate.--The term ``participate'', with respect to 
 acts constituting chemical or surgical mutilation as defined in 
 paragraph

    (1) , means directly engaging in the planning, 
 authorization, prescription, administration, or performance of 
 any such act, including any of the following:
        (A) Prescribing puberty blockers, sex hormones, or 
 related medications with the intent to alter an 
 individual's physical appearance or reproductive 
 function to align with an identity differing from his 
 or her sex.
        (B) Administering medications or treatments 
 described in subparagraph
        (A) with such intent, whether 
 by injection, oral delivery, or other means.
            (C) Performing surgical procedures that attempt to 
 transform an individual's physical appearance to 
 confirm a patient's physical appearance to be of the 
 alternate sex, or that alter or remove sexual organs as 
 part of chemical or surgical mutilation.
            (D) Authorizing or directing such chemical or 
 surgical mutilation procedures as a supervising health 
 care professional or institutional representative.
        (E) Knowingly planning or coordinating the 
 provision of treatments or procedures described above 
 in subparagraph
        (A) ,
            (C) , or
            (D) with the intent to 
 facilitate chemical or surgical mutilation.

    (7) Sex.--The term ``sex'' means a person's immutable 
 biological classification, determined at the moment of 
 conception, as either male or female, as follows:
        (A) The term ``female'' is a person who naturally 
 has, had, will have, or would have but for a congenital 
 anomaly or intentional or unintentional disruption, the 
 reproductive system that produces, transports, and 
 utilizes the large gamete

    (ova) for fertilization.
        (B) The term ``male'' is a person who naturally 
 has, had, will have, or would have but for a congenital 
 anomaly or intentional or unintentional disruption, the 
 reproductive system that produces, transports, and 
 utilizes the small gamete

    (sperm) for fertilization.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON CHEMICAL OR SURGICAL MUTILATION.

    (a) In General.--No health care professional, hospital, or clinic 
shall, in a circumstance described in subsection

    (b) , participate in 
the chemical or surgical mutilation of a child, and a health care 
professional, hospital, or clinic may commence participation in a 
treatment that qualifies as an exception specified in clauses
            (i) through
            (iv) of 

section 2

    (1)
        (B) only after determining that clear and 
convincing evidence supports a determination that the treatment so 
qualifies.

    (b) Circumstances Described.--The circumstances described in this 
subsection are that--

    (1) the defendant or child traveled in interstate or 
 foreign commerce, or traveled using a means, channel, facility, 
 or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce, in 
 furtherance of or in connection with the participation in the 
 chemical or surgical mutilation;

    (2) the defendant used a means, channel, facility, or 
 instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce in 
 furtherance of or in connection with the participation in the 
 chemical or surgical mutilation;

    (3) any payment of any kind was made, directly or 
 indirectly, in furtherance of or in connection with the 
 participation in the chemical or surgical mutilation using any 
 means, channel, facility, or instrumentality of interstate or 
 foreign commerce or in or affecting interstate or foreign 
 commerce;

    (4) the defendant transmitted in interstate or foreign 
 commerce any communication relating to or in furtherance of the 
 participation in the chemical or surgical mutilation using any 
 means, channel, facility, or instrumentality of interstate or 
 foreign commerce or in or affecting interstate or foreign 
 commerce by any means or in any manner, including by computer, 
 mail, wire, or electromagnetic transmission;

    (5) any instrument, item, substance, or other object that 
 has traveled in interstate or foreign commerce was used to 
 perform the chemical or surgical mutilation;

    (6) the chemical or surgical mutilation occurred within the 
 District of Columbia, the special maritime and territorial 
 jurisdiction of the United States, or any territory or 
 possession of the United States; or

    (7) the chemical or surgical mutilation otherwise occurred 
 in or affected interstate or foreign commerce.

SEC. 4. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.

    (a) In General.--An individual subjected as a child to chemical or 
surgical mutilation prohibited by 

section 3, or the parents or legal 
guardians of such individual, may bring a civil action in an 
appropriate district court of the United States for damages against any 
health care professional, hospital, or clinic, who participates in the 
chemical or surgical mutilation of that child. Such a cause of action 
shall be available regardless of whether the alleged chemical or 
surgical mutilation occurred before, on, or after the date of enactment 
of this Act.

    (b) Damages.--Damages available pursuant to such an action may 
include--

    (1) compensatory damages, including all economic damages 
 associated with undoing, correcting, or ameliorating the 
 effects or results of any chemical or surgical mutilation 
 procedures;

    (2) non-economic damages for emotional distress and pain 
 and suffering; and

    (3) punitive damages, if the claimant proves by clear and 
 convincing evidence that the defendant against whom punitive 
 damages are sought acted maliciously, intentionally, 
 fraudulently, or recklessly.
            (c) Strict Liability.--Any health care professional, hospital, or 
clinic whose participation in the chemical or surgical mutilation of a 
child after the date of enactment of this Act is proven by clear and 
convincing evidence shall be strictly liable for damages for any such 
act of mutilation. If a treatment qualifies under an exception 
specified in clauses
            (i) through
            (iv) of 

section 2

    (1)
        (B) , and that is 
raised as an affirmative defense to a violation of this Act, the health 
care professional, hospital, or clinic shall bear the burden of proving 
by clear and convincing evidence that such exception applies.

SEC. 5. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.

 In this Act:

    (1) No private right of action is established based on 
 counseling, referrals to mental health professionals, or 
 discussions of treatment options, including counseling, 
 referrals, or options available upon reaching adulthood, or in 
 circumstances not described in 

section 3

    (b) , provided by health 
 care professionals, or mental health professionals, provided 
 that such actions do not constitute participation in chemical 
 or surgical mutilation, as defined in 

section 2.

    (2) No liability for a health care professional under these 
 provisions may be waived.

    (3) Any ambiguities shall be resolved against any party 
 found to have engaged in participation, as defined in 

section 2

    (6) , in the chemical or surgical mutilation of a child.

    (4) In any cases in which chemical or surgical mutilation 
 of a child is shown to have occurred before the date of 
 enactment of this Act, there is limited deference to prevailing 
 standards of care to the extent that such standards contradict 
 the intent of this Act and it is shown that the health care 
 professional knew or should have known that such standards of 
 care were in serious, scientific, and medical dispute at the 
 time of the chemical or surgical mutilation.

    (5) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit a 
 health care professional or mental health professional from 
 providing information about all available treatment options, 
 discussing risks and benefits, or expressing professional 
 medical opinions, so long as such actions do not constitute 
 participation in chemical or surgical mutilation.

SEC. 6. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.

 An action under 

section 4 may be brought within 25 years from the 
date of the eighteenth birthday of an individual subjected to chemical 
or surgical mutilation as a child or within 4 years from the time the 
cost of a detransition treatment is incurred, whichever date is later.

SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY.

 If any provision of this Act, or the application of such a 
provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be 
unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, and the application of the 
provision held to be unconstitutional to any other person or 
circumstance, shall not be affected.
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